I was drifting in the darkness.
No sound. No light. No warmth.
Just silence… and the crushing weight of everything I had ever carried.
I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't hear, couldn't sense, couldn't even see. It was like floating in a place beyond life, beyond thought—a void that swallowed me whole. And yet, for the first time… I didn't have to keep going. I didn't have to fight.
I was tired.
No—exhausted. Not just from that day, not just from the accident, but from years. Years of struggling, surviving, pretending I was strong. All my life, I fought against the odds. Nothing ever came easy. I studied until my eyes burned, working day and night just to get a shot at university. Two part-time jobs to keep us afloat, barely enough to pay rent and put food on the table. And in the middle of it all… my little brother, Steve. Just a kid, innocent and full of dreams. I had to raise him alone. We were orphans, and I was all he had.
Every day, I wore a smile I didn't feel. Every night, I collapsed into bed hoping tomorrow would be easier. It never was.
And now? I'm dead.
A car accident. Fast, stupid, meaningless. I was so tired I didn't see the step. My foot slipped. The lights, the sound of the horn, the impact—it all happened in a blur. My body couldn't take it. My mind was already slipping long before I hit the ground.
Now I can finally rest… even if not in peace.
But Steve...
His face is the only thing I see in the darkness. His smile. His laugh. The way he used to fall asleep on my shoulder during cartoons.
What will happen to him now?
He'll be alone. Completely. No one to cook for him. No one to remind him to brush his teeth. No one to tuck him in at night or tell him it'll be okay when he cries.
I failed him.
I broke the one promise I swore I'd never break:
"I'll always be there for you."
If I could go back... would I?
No. I don't think so. This world… it never gave me anything but pain. Just one harsh day after another, an endless cycle of sacrifice and disappointment. Dreams turned to dust. Hopes crushed under the weight of responsibility. The future? It was always uncertain. A blurry path full of walls I couldn't climb.
So maybe this is it.
Maybe I fade away here—into nothingness.
Maybe that's what I deserve.
...Or maybe—
Just maybe—
This isn't the end.
Something's pulling at me.
A strange warmth in the cold.
A flicker of light in the void.
A whisper I can't understand, but it's calling me. Somewhere far… far away.